Superfund Bribery Convictions for Lawyer, Coal Executive Upheld

A lawyer and lobbyist who bribed an Alabama elected official to thwart the EPA’s cleanup efforts at a potential Superfund site left sufficient evidence for a jury to find them guilty, a federal appeals court said.

Joel Gilbert, a former partner at Balch & Bingham LLP, and David Roberson, then a lobbyist and vice president at Drummond Co. Inc., were found guilty in a 2018 joint jury trial of conspiracy, bribery, honest services wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed their convictions in a Thursday decision.

Gilbert and Roberson bribed Oliver ...